dispelling sidelong: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Songkick

Pros
Makes it a breeze to find artist tour dates. Taps iTunes, Last.fm, and other sources to help you find tour dates. Free.
Cons Requires a Facebook account to sign in. Unattractive design that doesn't mirror the beautiful look of the mobile app.
Bottom Line
Songkick makes it easy for music fans to keep an eye on their favorite artists' tour dates?and purchase show tickets?by alerting them to when musicians and comedians are in town.

By Jeffrey L. Wilson

Hardcore music fans have their beloved bands' tour schedules seemingly imprinted on their souls, but those of us with more casual devotions may have trouble keeping tabs on our favorite artists' performance dates. Enter Songkick, a free Web service (also available as an Android?and iOS app) that notifies you when an artist plans to come to your town. Concertgoers, consider Songkick a must-bookmark site.

How Songkick Works
You obtain concert information by logging in with your Facebook credentials (unfortunately, this is the only way to sign up), keying an artist's name into the search box, clicking the search icon, selecting the artist's database entry, and then clicking "Track." You'll know that an artist is on tour if you see a red "On Tour" sash adorning the listing. If an artist isn't on tour, Songkick simply displays "No Upcoming Events."

Songkick also lets you discover upcoming concerts by tapping your personal tastes that are recorded in other sites and services. A column on the home page's right side lets you import artist information from your Facebook, iTunes, Last.fm, Pandora, or Spotify?accounts to build? a list of performers without using Songkick's search feature?and it works surprisingly well. Songkick recognized nearly every artist?even the relatively unknown Death Grips. Songkick Concerts didn't recognize a Heems track, but overall I was impressed that the app has its ear tuned to both popular and underground acts.

The Songkick Experience
Songkick's Web site isn't as attractive as its Android app (I dare say that it's downright ugly), but it's simple to use despite lacking the slick panel-driven mobile interface. "Artists" displays a list of performer thumbnail image showing artists you manually added and those which Songkick automatically generated based on your music collection. Songkick displays the tour dates, tour venues, and locations when you click an artist link. You can also let others know if you're attending (by clicking "I'm going"/"I might go"), view similar artists, purchase tickets (from the likes of LiveNation, Stubhub!, and others sellers), and view other Songkick Concert users who plan to attend the same show (unfortunately, there's no way to interact with them).

"Calendar" displays the shows you may attend and artist tour dates. It also lets you add a date to Google Calendar if you prefer to house tour information there?a nice touch. "Locations" lets you add cities that you're willing to visit to attend shows. For example, I inputted Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, so Songkick Concerts only displayed tour dates from artists who are planning to appear in those cities. Songkick Concerts makes finding concerts very simple, and you don't have to worry about missing a show again.

Party On, Wayne
Whether you're a concert frequenter or simply want to see a live music show once in a while, Songkick is a Web site to visit. Songkick not only lets you view when your favorite performers are coming to town, but lets you purchase tickets, too. The site and mobile app quickly became my go-to app whenever the idea of attending a live show popped into in my head. Music fans: check out this site.

By Jeffrey L. Wilson

Jeffrey L. Wilson's love of all things shiny/digital has lead to jobs penning gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for 2D-X, E-Gear, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings that passion to...

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The Tivoli PAL BT May Be The Best-Looking, Best-Sounding Bluetooth Speaker

Long before the advent of the Jawbone Jambox, there was a portable speaker that was decently rugged, had tremendous battery life and amazing sound, and that was the Tivoli PAL. The PAL boasted an audiophile peidgree and an auxiliary input that made it a good partner for early iPods, but the introduction of decent stereo Bluetooth streaming made it fall behind somewhat in convenience when the Jawbone and its ilk came around.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/YZ15UXOb7xo/

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Outrage, sadness as Americans barred from adopting Russian children

NBC News

Sonia greets her new parents, Kristina and Rich England.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

BRYANSK, Russia --?Kristi and Rich England of Marshall, Minn., shook with nerves and joy on their fourth and last trip to an orphanage in Bryansk, in?rural Russia. ?

They were finally taking Sonia, a partially blind and hyperactive 3-year-old, home with them.?The tearful Feb. 12 meeting, punctuated by Sonia?s screams of ?mama? and ?dada,? was all the more emotional because the Englands knew that they were the last lucky couple to leave Russia with an adopted child.?

?So many other families have seen their children and have loved their children and can?t bring them home,? said Kristi England, 34, a family doctor. ?It?s so unfair in so many ways.?

Those already undergoing the costly process of adopting a child from Russia found out Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law barring any future adoptions, canceling the ones in progress. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

The process wasn?t easy ? the Englands endured multiple background checks and spent at least $50,000 to ensure that Sonia, now called Sophia, could go home with them.

But the ban signed into law on Dec. 28 barring all U.S. adoptions ? which numbered more than 60,000 over the past two decades ? has marooned hundreds of families in the middle of adopting, and stranded thousands of children in orphanages throughout Russia.??

"We should do all we can so that orphaned children find a family in our country, in Russia," President Vladimir Putin said in defense of the ban.

Fueling the outrage in Russia over the fate of children adopted by Americans, Russian media reported earlier this week that Alexander Abnosov, 18, showed up in the Volga River port town of Cheboksary saying his adoptive family had mistreated him. He had left Russia five years earlier, having been adopted by a family outside Philadelphia, but said he fled after suffering from verbal abuse by his adoptive mother. ?

"She would make any small problem big and always try to find a reason to shout at you," he told Russia?s state-owned Channel 1.

While UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia, only about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt.?

But while Putin denies any direct connection, Kremlin-watchers say the ban is really about geopolitics and not about protecting kids.

NBC News

Russian child psychologist Valentina Rakova Valentina (left) stands with Kristina and Richard England and newly adopted Sonia in an orphanage in Bryansk, rural Russia.

They say it was retaliation by Moscow for an American law banning any Russian human rights violators from U.S. soil, enacted after the suspicious death in prison of Sergey Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer working for Heritage Fund, an American private equity firm.?

Russian media didn't hesitate to bolster the official line. ?

Despite the negative reports, child psychologist Valentina Rakova, who has worked in the Bryansk orphanage for 30 years, says the ban is terrible for children.?

?Here in Russia we have many examples of bad parents -- even worse than these American cases -- where kids are just tossed out,? she said as she coiffed Sonia, who requires special medical attention.

?A child like Sonia, no Russian would accept her,? Rakova said. ?Before the ban, orphans were offered to Russian families but no one took them in.??

Rakova's experience confirms the U.N.'s statistics. As far as she has seen, Americans are far more likely to adopt children who are ill or suffer from a disability.

Becky Preece, a housewife from Nampa, Idaho, is one such American. ?

She was finally able to take home 4-year-old Gabe, who has Down syndrome, in February, after years of filling out paperwork and a court battle. ?

Preece, who like the Englands beat the ban by days but was then delayed by red tape, said she saw a complete disconnect between the horrors of Russia?s adoption ban and the kindness and hospitality of the Russians themselves.?

NBC News

Becky Preece from Nampa, Idaho, adopted 4-year-old Gabe just days before the ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans went into force.

?It?s not a matter of the people,? she said while walking with the little boy in the thick Moscow snow.

?It?s politically charged and it?s something that is hard for us to understand because it?s so different from the experience that we?ve had here.?

Preece said she was excited to get Gabe into school back home, and watch him bond with his new brother who also has Down syndrome.?

?They need the infrastructure, they need the kind of support that we get at home for our children,? she said.?

But for the hundreds of American families who missed the cut and are now unable to bring their adoptive children home, the future could mean months -- even years -- of waiting and praying that the two superpower rivals find common ground before more of society?s most vulnerable pay the price.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jim Maceda is a London-based correspondent who has covered the Soviet Union and Russia since the 1980s.?

Related:

Boy's Christmas wish: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat

Thousands march in Moscow to protest Russian adoption ban

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a273b3e/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C30A0C1750A4450A0Eoutrage0Esadness0Eas0Eamericans0Ebarred0Efrom0Eadopting0Erussian0Echildren0Dlite/story01.htm

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S.Africa's Mandela "comfortable", treated for pneumonia

By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is comfortable and able to breathe without problems as he continues to respond to treatment in hospital for a recurrence of pneumonia, President Jacob Zuma's office said on Saturday.

After the revered 94-year-old statesman and former South African president spent a third night in hospital, the presidency said doctors had drained excess fluid from his lungs to tackle the infection.

"This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty. He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable," the statement added.

In the first detailed mention of his medical condition since his latest hospitalisation, the third in four months, the presidency said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had "developed a pleural effusion which was tapped".

Previous bulletins since he was taken to hospital late on Wednesday have reported him responding well, in "good spirits".

They have appeared to indicate that the recurrence of the lung infection afflicting Mandela is being successfully treated.

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and stepped down five years later, has been mostly absent from the political scene for the past decade. But he remains an enduring and beloved symbol of the struggle against racism.

Global figures such as U.S. President Barack Obama have sent get well messages and South Africans have included Mandela in their prayers on the Easter weekend, one of the most important dates of the Christian calendar.

Mandela is revered at home and abroad for leading the struggle against white minority rule, then promoting the cause of racial reconciliation when in power.

His fragile health has been a concern for years as he has withdrawn from the public eye and mostly stayed at his affluent homes in Johannesburg and in Qunu, the rural village in the destitute Eastern Cape province near where he was born.

"FATHER OF THE NATION"

South Africans of all ages and walks of life have been following the official medical bulletins closely.

"He is the father of the nation, our Abraham Lincoln, our George Washington," said South African economics student Curtis Richardson, 19, as he visited Nelson Mandela Square in an upscale Johannesburg shopping mall with friends.

Mandela remains an inspirational figure worldwide.

"If he dies, it will be a tragedy, because he's such a symbol," said Kagisho Paterson, 19, a visitor from Britain, snapping photos near a towering statue of Mandela in the square.

English Premiership League soccer team Sunderland AFC designated Saturday "Nelson Mandela Day" to kick off its new deal supporting the ex-president's charitable foundation. The partnership would start with fundraising efforts during the team's home clash with Manchester United, Sunderland added.

Mandela's ruling African National Congress (ANC) is still the dominant force in South African politics, but critics say it has lost the moral compass bequeathed it by the previous generation of anti-apartheid freedom fighters.

Under such leaders as Mandela and the late Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, the ANC gained wide international respect when it battled white rule.

Once the yoke of apartheid was thrown off in 1994, it began governing South Africa in a blaze of goodwill from world leaders who viewed it as a beacon for a troubled continent and world.

Almost two decades later, this image has dimmed as ANC leaders have been accused of indulging in the spoils of office, squandering mineral resources and engaging in power struggles.

Mandela was in hospital briefly earlier this month for a check-up and spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones.

He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner.

A Nigerian visitor to Johannesburg, civil engineer Gregory Osugba, 35, called Mandela "an icon of greatness and freedom" for the entire African continent and the world.

"When he goes ... the symbol will remain," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africas-mandela-comfortable-responding-treatment-113733963.html

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BracketRacket: Jim Boeheim, R.L. Stine and pizza

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim answers questions during a news conference Friday, March 29, 2013, in Washington. Syracuse plays Marquette in a regional semifinal game in the NCAA basketball tournament on Saturday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts during the first half of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament against Indiana, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Maryland head coach Brenda Frese smiles during a news conference prior to practice for a women's regional semifinal game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Bridgeport, Conn., Friday, March 29, 2013. Maryland plays Connecticut Saturday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Kansas' Naadir Tharpe, left, and Ben McLemore right react in the lockeroom after losing 87-85 to Michigan in overtime of a regional semifinal game in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 29, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Michigan's Glenn Robinson III (1), Tim Hardaway Jr. (10), Jordan Morgan (52), Caris LeVert (23) celebrate after beating Kansas 87-85 in overtime of a regional semifinal game in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 29, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Welcome back to BracketRacket, your one-stop shopping place for all things NCAA.

For our final Sweet 16 edition, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim chuckles at NFL film study, author R.L. Stine marvels at the NCAA tournament's knack for mass hypnosis, Pizza Hut plans a shockingly good deal at Wichita State, a rare travel plan for the Maryland women and the tournament's interference with educating tomorrow's leaders.

___

BOEHEIM, THE FILM CRITIC

You know how those NFL coaches bury themselves in the film room? AP Sports Writer Joseph White reports from Washington that's just not Jim Boeheim's style.

"I'm not a big proponent of scouting, film work," the Syracuse coach said before facing fellow Big East member Marquette in a regional final. "I probably watch less film than anybody in the country. We know what we need to do. Everybody in this business knows what they need to do. It's a question of if you can execute it in the game."

That much was evident in the Orange's win against top-seeded Indiana on Thursday night. The Hoosiers just couldn't solve the Syracuse zone even though they knew what was coming.

"I always laugh at football coaches," Boeheim said. "They know every play, every position, every move that these other guys are going to make because they watch 36,000 hours of tape. Their players have no clue what they're talking about. ... I always say if the football player can do one-tenth of what those coaches know, they would be geniuses, because you can't.

"It's not what the coaches know or what you know, it's what the players know and how they execute, and sometimes it looks like we didn't coach 'em at all, you know, but we do. We do try. We do coach 'em."

___

SCARY STUFF

Author R.L. Stine has spent two decades scaring children with his "Goosebumps" youth horror books. Stine, who went to Ohio State, is also fascinated with the way the NCAA tournament puts the nation in a trance every March.

"This is why the tournament is so brilliant, with all the brackets," Stine told AP Business Writer Christina Rexrode. "That's incredible mind control."

Stine ? his latest work, "How I Met My Monster," is out this week ? said he doesn't fill out a bracket and doesn't follow the sport much until the tournament arrives. But his wife, Jane, always does a bracket.

"She has very strange methods," Stine said. "Last year, she just picked schools that began with K, and she did great."

Evidently so, considering Kentucky beat Kansas to win the national title.

___

GATORS, UNDERDOGS AND (GASP!) BLUE DEVILS

Wendy Thomas is the red-headed girl featured in the name and logo for Wendy's fast food restaurants. The daughter of founder Dave Thomas is keeping a close watch on this year's round of 16.

Wendy Thomas went to Florida, but cheers for Ohio State because she lives in Columbus, Ohio. She even told Rexrode that, while she wanted the Gators to beat tournament darling Florida Gulf Coast in Friday night's South Regional, she would've been OK had the game gone the other way.

"I love underdogs," she said. "Everybody deserves a chance."

As for her late father, well, he liked one of the blue bloods.

"There was a time there ? I hate to say it ? when he did cheer a lot for Duke," she said. "But I think he did it just to make me mad."

___

PIZZA FOR EVERYONE? ONLY AFTER 3 MORE WINS

Three more wins by Wichita State, and it's time for an all-time college-student favorite: free pizza.

If the Shockers win the title, Pizza Hut officials have promised to feed the students in the original restaurant building on campus the Thursday after the final game.

The first Pizza Hut opened in 1958 in Wichita and the building was later moved to campus in 1986 for use by student groups. Spokesman Doug Terfehr said in an email Friday night that the chain will bring in a mobile kitchen to prepare and serve the pizzas, and open the restaurant building for students to sit and eat.

The chain would also offer a $9 pizza deal, matching the Shockers' NCAA seeding, for people who sign up online.

Any more last-second 3-pointers from Ohio State ? which has won two straight in dramatic fashion to meet the Shockers in the regional final ? and Wichita State students will be depressed AND hungry.

___

ALL ABOARD!

Over in the women's tournament, AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg reports, the Maryland women took a different route to get to Bridgeport, Conn., for Saturday's regional semifinal against Connecticut.

The Terrapins couldn't fly since Maryland is within 350 miles of the site, so they took the train.

"We felt like it would be a tremendous experience for a lot of our players," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "I asked them and over three-quarters of them had never taken the train. To give them that experience through basketball was a phenomenal opportunity and one we really enjoyed together."

The Terps were able to spread out and held study hall during the 4-hour trip.

"The train ride was very different," Terps senior Tianna Hawkins said. "I'm not really used to all the stops and people coming and going. When I was younger I traveled a lot, but we flew."

The Terrapins will bus back to Maryland. They had sent a bus to their hotel with their gear and luggage.

___

A TOURNAMENT SLOWDOWN

The Flint Journal reported this week that a Michigan school district recently had to block access to college basketball games over its computer network.

The reason? People watching tournament games online last week slowed the Genesee Intermediate School District network so much that it prevented students from viewing online material at school.

Perhaps not coincidentally, it happened the same day Michigan and Michigan State opened tournament play ? though only Michigan State played during school hours.

___

DEVOTION

Check out this quick hitter about a man determined not to interfere with fellow Kansas fans watching the Jayhawks in the NCAAs: http://yhoo.it/YIK3hy

___

STAT OF THE DAY

Indiana is the latest top-ranked team from the preseason to fall short of the Final Four.

The Hoosiers' loss to Syracuse in the round of 16 marked the fourth straight year and ninth time in 15 years that the No. 1 in the AP preseason poll didn't make it to the tournament's final weekend, according to STATS.

Only three preseason No. 1s ? Connecticut in 2004, Florida in 2007 and North Carolina in 2009 ? have gone on to win the national championship since 1999.

___

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"To lose a game this way, I know our guys are just crushed right now, and this will be a tough one to get over for a long time." ? Kansas coach Bill Self after Friday night's overtime loss to Michigan.

___

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Midwest Region

Louisville 77, Oregon 69

Duke 71, Michigan State 61

South Region

Michigan 87, Kansas 85, OT

Florida 62, Florida Gulf Coast 50

___

SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE

East Region

At Washington

Marquette (26-8) vs. Syracuse (29-9), 4:30 p.m.

West Region

At Los Angeles

Ohio State (29-7) vs. Wichita State (29-8), 7 p.m.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-30-BKC-BracketRacket-033013/id-029bfe057ee94385aa1a9f9a50a418d4

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Outrage, sadness as Americans barred from adopting Russian children

NBC News

Sonia greets her new parents, Kristina and Rich England.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

BRYANSK, Russia --?Kristi and Rich England of Marshall, Minn., shook with nerves and joy on their fourth and last trip to an orphanage in Bryansk, in?rural Russia. ?

?So many other families have seen their children and have loved their children and can?t bring them home,? said Kristi England, 34, a family doctor. ?It?s so unfair in so many ways.?

The process wasn?t easy ? the Englands endured multiple background checks and spent at least $50,000 to ensure that Sonia, now called Sophia, could go home with them.

"We should do all we can so that orphaned children find a family in our country, in Russia," President Vladimir Putin said in defense of the ban.

"She would make any small problem big and always try to find a reason to shout at you," he told Russia?s state-owned Channel 1.

While UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia, only about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt.?

But while Putin denies any direct connection, Kremlin-watchers say the ban is really about geopolitics and not about protecting kids.